Category: reading

I Read Some Books in 2018 (But You Wouldn’t Know That From Here)

Because 2018 barely exist on this blog, there’s no public record of what I read last year. And without that record, it felt like I didn’t read last year. The facts don’t support that feeling, though. I read some books–more than I thought I had, actually–in 2018. I got plenty of use out of Libby and my library cards.

True, I did go on a few long stretches when I binged podcasts instead or listening to audiobooks during the commute. (It was the year I finally got sucked into You Must Remember This and its archives.) I didn’t read much in print, but I think I read more ebooks than I ever have before.

One advantage of digital reading is that there is a record. It’s in whatever apps you’ve used to do it. And with the help of a third app, Reading List, I was able to collect all of that activity in one place. The image in this post shows all the books I read last year.

Stats, Trends, and Thoughts: The Year in Books

Total books read: 25

I really had no idea of my book count for 2018 until I made this list. By my prior-year standards–let alone book-blogger measures–it’s a sad number. In the context of 2018 events, I’m not at all mad about it.

I felt like I’d split my reading pretty evenly betweenfiction and nonfiction. It looks like my sense of that was pretty on-point.

Format breakdown: Print 4, Audiobooks 11, Ebooks 10

My vision’s never been good, but I’ve had some new issues with it over the last couple of years. Some are age-related, and some are connected to the strain of lifelong severe myopia. Both may be complicated by medical conditions (guess who’s diabetic now, y’all?). In any case, I’m finding the adjustable fonts of e-reading are much easier on my eyes.

Author gender breakdown, by category

Fiction: Female 10, Male 4 (I count “Robert Galbraith” as female since everyone knows “he” is J.K. Rowling. Also, three of the four novels by men were by the same author.)

Nonfiction: Female 10, Male 1 (The single essay collection was also the only nonfiction I read not written by a woman.)

If I Have to Pick One: Book of the Year

It’s been the case for a few years now that nonfiction sticks with me more than fiction does. About half of my 2018 nonfiction reads really helped me better understand our current social/political climate and how it developed, and I’m glad for that.

My Book of the Year comments on some aspects of that climate, but it stands out as remarkable personal history. The audiobook version of Educated by Tara Westover was a riveting listen, and even though I’m reading fewer print books lately, I will be buying a keeper copy of this one in paperback.

I have already finished three books in 2019. I’m tracking them with Reading List, and intend to write about some of them here. I want to be a more deliberate reader again, and I think I’m off to a decent start.

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Bookkeeping: The Reading Year in Review (Without Reviews) Contributing to Shelf Awareness taught me how to craft a concise, structured book review. I’ve never really mastered the “bite-size” capsule book discussion, though–not on LibraryThing or Goodreads, not on Instagram or Litsy, and definitely not here. My book posts here tend to skew high on the word-count side. I’d like to think I write long reviews because I read books that give me lots to think and talk […]

I’m re-approaching my reading habits… …because we all know what it means when you keep doing the same thing expecting different results. Many of us have been through a reading slump or two (or 25), but the last year or so has felt different. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find books that interested me. It was more a matter of time and energy–that is, not having either–that made it hard to invest in any books I […]

I don’t usually do the “bite-sized book reviews” thing here. But after four months away, it’s probably the most efficient way to catch up! I’m updating my 2017 Book Review Index and reading record with these collected mini-reviews. Granted, I didn’t do a TON of reading while I was gone. However, I did read too many books to write individual posts about each one. I don’t have the time–or quite frankly, the memory of some of […]

I received this book for review consideration from the publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers. All opinions are my own.The Devil and Webster Written by Jean Hanff Korelitz Published by Grand Central Publishing on March 21st 2017 ISBN: 9781455592388 Genres: Fiction, Literary, Contemporary Women, Family Life Format: ARC Pages: 368 Source: publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers From the New York Times bestselling author of You Should Have Known and Admission, a twisty new novel […]

I received this book for review consideration from the publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers. All opinions are my own.Setting Free the Kites Written by Alex George Published by Penguin on February 21st 2017 ISBN: 9780399162107 Genres: Fiction, Literary Format: ARC Pages: 336 Source: publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers From the author of the “lyrical and compelling” (USA Today) novel A Good American comes a powerful story of two friends and the unintended consequences […]

Born a Crime Written by Trevor Noah Audiobook read by Trevor Noah Published by Random House Publishing Group on November 15th 2016 ISBN: 9780399588174 Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Essays, Performing Arts Format: audiobook Pages: 304 Source: purchased Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at […]

The Mothers Written by Brit Bennett Audiobook read by Adenrele Ojo Published by Penguin on October 11th 2016 ISBN: 9780399184536 Genres: Fiction, Literary Format: audiobook Pages: 288 Source: purchased Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett’s mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret. “All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we’d taken a moment to […]

The Princess Diarist Written by Carrie Fisher Audiobook read by carrie fisher, billie lourd Published by Blue Rider Press on October 18th 2016 ISBN: 0399173595 Genres: Nonfiction, Personal Memoirs, Popular Culture Format: audiobook Pages: 257 Source: purchased The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. When Carrie Fisher recently discovered […]

I received this book for review consideration from the publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers. All opinions are my own.This Is Not Over Written by Holly Brown Published by William Morrow, HarperCollins on January 17th 2017 ISBN: 9780062456830 Genres: Fiction, Suspense Format: ARC Pages: 400 Source: publisher, via Shelf Awareness for Readers When 30-year-old Dawn reads Miranda’s email, she sees red. People have always told Dawn she’s beautiful, and she just hopes they don’t see […]

This Is the Story of You Written by Beth Kephart Published by Chronicle Books on April 12th 2016 ISBN: 9781452142845 Genres: Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, General Format: ebook Pages: 264 Source: purchased On Haven, a six-mile long, half-mile-wide stretch of barrier island, Mira Banul and her Year-Rounder friends have proudly risen to every challenge. But then a superstorm defies all predictions and devastates the island, upending all logic and stranding Mira’s mother and brother on […]

We Are Unprepared Written by Meg Little Reilly Published by Mira Books on August 30th 2016 ISBN: 9780778319436 Genres: Fiction, Literary Format: ARC Pages: 368 Source: publisher Meg Little Reilly places a young couple in harm’s way—both literally and emotionally—as they face a cataclysmic storm that threatens to decimate their Vermont town, and the Eastern Seaboard in her penetrating debut novel, WE ARE UNPREPARED. Ash and Pia move from hipster Brooklyn to rustic Vermont in […]

When She Woke Written by Hillary Jordan Published by Algonquin Books on 2012 ISBN: 9781616201937 Genres: Fiction, General, Dystopian Format: ebook Pages: 354 Source: purchased Bellwether Prize winner Hillary Jordan’s provocative new novel, When She Woke, tells the story of a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromedÑtheir skin color […]

Burn Baby Burn Written by Meg Medina Published by Candlewick Press on March 8th 2016 ISBN: 9780763679989 Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, General Format: ebook Pages: 320 Nora Lopez is seventeen during the infamous New York summer of 1977, when the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets. Nora’s family life isn’t going so well either: her bullying brother, Hector, […]

Born to Run Written by Bruce Springsteen Audiobook read by Bruce Springsteen Published by Simon and Schuster on September 27th 2016 ISBN: 9781501141539 Genres: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Music Format: audiobook Pages: 528 Source: purchased “Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of […]